DENVER — The Nationals have been good all season about shaking off tough losses and rebounding the next time out. Well, they'll only have about three hours to forget this afternoon's 6-2 defeat to the Rockies before retaking the field for the nightcap of this doubleheader.

I wouldn't expect any hangover factor. If anything, the Nats felt like they put together some decent at-bats in Game 1. They just were done in once again by Ubaldo Jimenez, the majors' best pitcher of the season to date.

Even though his team lost the opener, Jim Riggleman has to feel good about his chances in Game 2. If rookie Luis Atilano struggles, he's still got all of his top relievers rested and ready to go. That's the reason Tyler Walker, Tyler Clippard and Matt Capps didn't appear in the opener. Had there only been one game on the slate today, Walker probably would have pitched the eighth inning of what was then a 3-2 game. But with the nightcap looming, Riggleman wanted to preserve his best arms in case his team holds a late lead.

One guy who I wouldn't expect to pitch in the second game is Brian Bruney. Actually, I wouldn't be stunned if the guy doesn't throw another pitch for the Nationals. Riggleman was not happy with the right-hander's performance today, in which he walked the first two batters he faced and then allowed an RBI double and two-run single later. Riggleman and Rizzo spent time behind closed doors immediately following the game, and Rizzo was on the field on his cell phone for a while after that. I don't want to assume anything here, but I wouldn't be shocked if there's a roster move after tonight's game and there's a bullpen change in time for tomorrow's series finale.

Mark-Solid reporting, thank you. Any hunch on who you think may get the call to replace Bruney (praying for Drew Storen). Oh and does Does Taveras get dropped for Morse?Also, I see Josh Willingham was hit by a pitch in the first game in his pinch hit AB and isn't in the line-up in the night cap … he okay? Or is Riggleman just giving him some more time to rest?Thanks!

Posted this idea last week….The amount of money wasted on Brain B and Tyler W. is about the same as being saved by letting Storen sit in AAA until June. This team was until today the wild card winner. A win or lose in May is the same as September. Lerner has saved enough money over the years…..Storen needs to be on this team like a month ago….JayB

Rivera's got an ERA under 1 for Columbus but is still walking too many people. No great loss IMHO. I don't think Severino or Storen is coming up either. I think that you don't let major league problems affect the development of your prospects and I think Peralta and Slaten were brought in as backup options for just the situations that we're seeing here. Villone and Macdougal are similar backup options if our current bullpen guys don't handle the job.

I'm still waiting for the other shoe to fall. Riggs 'fav' (like Many 'fav' Rivera) Miguel Batista to pitch.The guy has now allowed FIVE, that's right FIVE home runs including a grandslam in just 22 innings. He has a 10.80 ERA against these Rockies. His whip at 1.57 isn't anything spectacular and he has walked 16 and only struck out 12. In 17.2 innings Bruney has allowed 20 walks but only 1 home run against 16 total strike outs. I really believe that of the two Batista is the worst, my argument? Bruney is more often put in critical situations with 1 run leads in the set up role. Batista gets to hide in Batista land way too often. Batista's 6.04 ERA isn't all that much better. Batista is getting paid $1,000,000 which is only $500,000 less than Bruney and $600,000 more than Bergmann. I still don't see what Riggleman is thinking with either of those catastrophes.

I had forgotten all about Macdougal. If I'm going to have a guy lose all control and walk batters and get behind everyone before grooving a 3-1 pitch, I'd rather Macdougal do it with his 94 mph sinker than Brutal Bruney with his 92 mph riser.

Not a chance they bring up Macdougal or Ron V……that would be just like Jimbo…Rizzo will reward performance and that is Storen…..Except that Lerner is too cheap to care about wins. He has a big gate with Phil at the end of July….Stan has been burning up the phone lines with Bars in Philly.

maybe with bruney gone, batista will see himself as the next to go, and maybe straighten up. bruney is hopeless. every interview he talks about how confident he is.i'm confident that this is as good as he gets.

Another thing about Storen- it's not like were talking about many millions of dollars. He'll be a youngish reliever, probably a setup guy, at the relevant time. He wouldn't be in line for the type of arbitration payday that a guy like strasburg might be.

There are way too many really good pitchers in AAA Syracuse and AA Harrisburg to have to put up with either Batista or Bruney. Batista was a non-roster invitee that was slated to pitch in Syracuse as veteran depth. I can't see how you could pick this guy over say Andrew Kown who has done well the last 2 years in Syracuse? Okay you could even use Stammen in place of Batista. Slaten can do that job. And it is what Clippard was supposed to do. If they bring up Peralta or Severino and Storen perhaps Clippard can return to his role? At some point soon Strasburg will be brought up and hopefully they won't send someone down who doesn't deserve it.

Aeoliano: You've posted 42 comments today on this site. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the traffic, but perhaps you could condense your thoughts into a few less postings? Or at the very least, step outside for a couple minutes, breathe in some fresh air and take a little strain off your eyes?

The decision to delay Storen is not about the money per se, its about being able to control him an additional year. Holding him back 10 weeks (or whatever it is) in 2010 means he becomes a free agent in 2016 instead of 2015. Hmmm,,,10 weeks or 1 year? Easy, intelligent decision.

I do not usually watch out games on TV, when they are in town I am here and on the road I usually catch the games on radio, but I have to say, Carpenter and Dibble are the WORST broadcasters I have ever heard in my 38 years listening to TV broadcasts, what the heck is this cheering like they are fans, they are SUPPOSE to be objective observers, also they have no idea what they are talking about baseball wise, Desmond's HORRIBLE throw was the problem not Dunn's attempted stretch…also they dog Guzman at every opportunity, report the facts and let me watch the game..this will be the last Nats game I will watch on TV, I wish I could listen to the road broadcast on MASN!